Hillary Clinton in 2007 Democratic primary debate at Drexel
On Energy & Oil:
Investigate & move toward energy efficiency and conservation
We do have enough money in LIHEAP to help consumers pay their bills. We should have a crash program on weatherization to help to drive those bills down. We need to do more to investigate, and we might even have to look at the strategic petroleum reserve,
which the Bush administration has been filling up beyond any expectation of need for the short term. We also have to have a serious move toward energy efficiency and conservation. We need to get people to be more conscious to do it for themselves.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Families & Children:
A family is a child’s first school
We need to do more to help our families prepare their children. A family is a child’s first school. The parents are a child’s first teacher. We need to support it through nurse visitation or social work or child care, & do more with the pre-kindergarten
program. This has to fit into an overall innovation agenda because we can’t just say, go to school longer. We need to do what happened when I was in school and Sputnik went up, and our teacher said, your president wants you to study math and science.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Free Trade:
FactCheck: for NAFTA while First Lady; now against CAFTA
Barack Obama accused Clinton of flip-flops on trade. Obama said, “Senator Clinton in her campaign has been for NAFTA previously, now she’s against it.” Obama is partly right concerning the North American Free Trade Agreement. Clinton’s views on
NAFTA have shifted, but they shifted prior to her official run for the White House. Back in 1998, in a keynote speech given at the Davos Economic Summit, Clinton praised business leaders for mounting “a very effective business effort in the
US on behalf of NAFTA,“ adding later that ”it is certainly clear that we have not by any means finished the job that has begun.“ But by 2005 she was expressing reservations about free trade agreements, voting that year against the Central America Free
Trade Agreement (CAFTA). And she told Bloomberg News in March 2007 that, while she still believes in free trade, she supports a freeze on new trade agreements--something she calls ”a little time-out.“
Source: FactCheck on 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Health Care:
Insurance companies cannot deny people coverage
My proposal gives the insurance companies an ultimatum. They have to get into the business of actually providing insurance, instead of trying to avoid covering people. They cannot deny people coverage. They cannot have a pre-existing condition which is
not covered. That is one of the biggest problems that doctors face. They face this constant barrage of harassment and bureaucratization from the private insurance world. We need to clean up Medicare & Medicaid. They’re not as friendly as they need to be.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Health Care:
Restore National Institutes of Health funding
It’s just outrageous that under Bush, the National Institutes of Health have been basically decreased in funding. We are on the brink of so many medical breakthroughs, and I will once again fund that research,
get those applications processed, get those young researchers in those labs, to know that we’re going to tackle cancer and try to do everything we can to drive its death rate down.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Homeland Security:
FactCheck: Yes, in 2006 condoned exceptions on torture
Barack Obama accused Clinton of flip-flops on torture: Obama is right. In an interview with the New York Daily News in October 2006,
Clinton condoned torture, saying, “In the event we were ever confronted with having to interrogate a detainee with knowledge of an imminent threat to millions of
Americans, then the decision to depart from standard international practices must be made by the President. That very, very narrow exception within very, very limited circumstances is better than blasting a big hole in our entire law.“
But in a debate in New Hampshire last month, Sen. Clinton shifted her position, when offered a similar ticking time bomb case, responding, ”As a matter of policy, torture cannot be American policy, period.“ To our ears, that sounds like a reversal.
Source: FactCheck on 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Immigration:
Immigrant license issue needs federal action on reform
What Gov. Spitzer is trying to do [with immigrant licenses] is fill the vacuum left by the failure to bring about comprehensive immigration reform. We have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally. They are undocumented workers.
They are driving on our roads. The possibility of them having an accident that harms themselves or others is just a matter of probability. No state, no matter how well intentioned, can fill this gap. There needs to be federal action on immigration reform
What is Spitzer supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problem. We have failed. And Bush has failed. Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this?
Remember, in New York, we want to know who’s in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows. He’s making an honest effort to do it. We should have passed immigration reform.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Immigration:
FactCheck: Denied saying licensing illegals “made sense”
Hillary bobbed and weaved on whether illegal immigrants should be granted driver’s licenses, avoiding a yes-or-no answer but denying her own words in the process. When asked about New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposal to grant state driver’s licenses to
immigrants who are in the US without legal permission, this exchange occurred: CLINTON: I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do it.DODD: Wait a minute. You said yes, you thought
it made sense to do it.
CLINTON: No, I didn’t. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are driving?
Actually, we checked the video, and Clinton did tell the Nashua Telegraph on Oct. 17 that
Spitzer’s plan “makes a lot of sense,” despite her denial to Dodd. During the debate, Clinton repeatedly said immigration should be dealt with nationally, not on a state-by-state basis. But after a long exchange she still hadn’t answered the question.
Source: FactCheck on 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Social Security:
Have a bipartisan commission on Social Security and its tax
Q: Did you say you would consider lifting the cap perhaps above $200,000?A: I have said consistently that my plan for Social Security is fiscal responsibility first, then to deal with any long-term challenges. We would have a bipartisan commission.
All of these would be considered. I do not want to balance Social Security on the backs of our seniors & middle-class families. We have to move back toward a more fair and progressive tax system, and begin to move toward a balanced budget with a surplus.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Tax Reform:
Freeze estate tax at 2009 level of $7 million per couple
I’m in favor of doing something about the AMT. How we do it and how we put the package together everybody knows is extremely complicated. I want to get to a fair & progressive tax system. The AMT has to be part of what we try to change when I’m president
There are a lot of moving pieces here. There are kinds of issues we’re going to deal with as the tax cuts expire. I want to freeze the estate tax at the 2009 level of $7 million for a couple. I’m not going to get committed to a specific approach.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On War & Peace:
Pledge that Iran will not develop a nuclear bomb
Q: Would you pledge to the American people that Iran will not develop a nuclear bomb while you are president?
A: I have pledged that I will do everything I can to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On War & Peace:
Rushing to war with Iran vs. doing nothing is a false choice
Q: Why did you vote for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment which calls upon the president to structure our military forces in Iraq with regard to the capability of Iran?A: I am against a rush to war. I was the first person on this stage and one of the very
first in the Congress to go to the floor of the Senate back in February & say Bush had no authority to take any military action in Iran. Secondly, I am not in favor of this rush for war, but I’m also not in favor of doing nothing. Iran is seeking nuclear
weapons. And the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is in the forefront of that, as they are in the sponsorship of terrorism. So some may want a false choice between rushing to war, which is the way the Republicans sound--it’s not even a question of whether,
it’s a question of when and what weapons to use--and doing nothing. I prefer vigorous diplomacy. And I happen to think economic sanctions are part of vigorous diplomacy. We used them with respect to North Korea. We used them with respect to Libya.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On War & Peace:
Absolutely oppose the war in Iraq
Q: Do you oppose the war in Iraq?A: Absolutely. But I do not oppose the brave young men and women who have fought this war with such distinction and heroism. I will begin to bring our troops home as soon as I am president, because Bush does not intend
to end the war while he is still president. We’re doing to have to get the Joint Chiefs and my secretary of defense and advisers together to start the planning to move as quickly as possible, because I don’t believe that the planning has been
sufficiently undertaken in the Pentagon under the Bush administration. We have to try to get the Iraqi government to understand its obligations, because there are no military solutions. We need to engage in diplomacy, with respect to Iraq. We have a
big diplomatic apparatus. Bush doesn’t use it. He relies on a very small group of people. That’s a terrible mistake. Bush’s policies have alienated our friends and emboldened our enemies. We’ve got to do more than just send our young men and women out.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On War & Peace:
Bring out as many combat troops as quickly as possible
When we talk about combat missions in Iraq, my understanding is that we had the same agreement that we would bring out combat troops but we would pursue a mission against Al Qaida in Iraq if they remained a threat. I don’t know how you pursue Al
Qaida without engaging them in combat. We should get as many of the combat troops out as quickly as possible. If we leave any troops in, like special operations, to go after Al Qaida in Iraq, we don’t want them just sitting around and watching them.
We want them to engage them. That is a very limited mission. That is what I have said consistently. It’s going to be complicated, and it’s going to take time. I intend to do it in a responsible manner that is as safe for our troops as possible.
We’re going to have troops remaining there, guarding our embassy. We may have a continuing training mission, and we may have a mission against Al Qaida in Iraq. That’s a very big difference than having the 160,000 troops that Bush has there today.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2018